Intricate Plot to Character Depth: Here are 4 MAJOR reasons why you need to binge Signal today!

When anyone asks me for recommendations for a thriller show, Signal always stays at the top of my list. It’s perfect for that long-awaited weekend after five days of boring classes or mundane work. In addition to that, if romcoms and aegyos seem tiring to you lately, we’ve got the perfect show to bring you into a whole different world of KDramas. 

Signal isn’t your next-door cliched Korean crime thriller where cops or the bad guys have inexplicably good sense of high-end fashion. It’s not makeup or subway product placements in every other episode. It grips the attention of the viewers based solely on its incredible plot and direction. In the year of its release, it was awarded Best Drama, Best Actress and Best Screenwriter at the 52nd Baeksang Arts Awards. The writer of this show is none other than the Kingdom fame writer, Kim Eun Hee. She took a total of four awards home for this show. 

Now that we’ve got the basics out of the way, here are six reasons why you shouldn’t miss out on this masterpiece. 

Intricate, intriguing plot

Signal pulls off the intricate time-travel concept brilliantly. The story is based on two inspectors - one in the year 1983, the other in the present, 2016 - being connected and conversing through an old walkie-talkie. Concerning a big serial killer mystery murder case, as they both  try to dig deep, protecting each other, giving each other information, their lives slowly get tangled in a web. At 11:23 PM, the old walkie-talkie (that doesn’t work) revs up and catches a signal that helps Park Hae Young (Lee Je Hoon) connect with the relentless, idealistic cop, Lee Jae Haan (Cho Jin Woong). Hae Young then sets out to catch the murderer with Detective Cha Soo Hyeon (Kim Hye Soo) - who is his senior now and was Jae Haan’s junior in 1983. 

Character Depth

Hats off to the writers because each character has a good development arc in this series. The characters have a strong positioning and a developed backstory - of things they did and reasons of doing it. The main characters definitely have a bigger hand in the show and show more emotions and personality development. The minor characters also have their own charm as they stand out, such as the new intern/junior who comes under Soo Hyeon - who also plays a key role in the series. The whole cast of Signal deserves an appreciation section on its whole. Never once wavering from their characters, the acting is surreal and incredible. Even the color palette of the show matches the eerie suspense that is about to unravel. Or not. 

The time-travel/fantasy element

Think of K-Drama but in Christopher Nolan style and you get Signal. The direction is superb in the show as there will be times you will have to pause, re-analyse or rewind to know what really happened. In a couple of scenes, we even have two characters at the same place in different times and scene cuts never fail to keep you on the edge of your seat. Because not many people know how to do things right when they discover the power of time at their hands, a few (read: major) mistakes are made too. 

The Ending: Unpredictable & Thrilling

Signal’s ending is everything you’d want it to be AND not want it to be too. Similar to the German thriller series DARK, ‘The beginning is the end and the end is the beginning’. Not as much a brain teaser as the German show, but, it will definitely get your mind racing. Enough for you to Google the ending for a better explanation. Throughout 16 episodes, the pacing of the show is fast with new information being lined up, new holes in the story appear whereas on the other hand a new story in itself appears. The ending lives up to the whole 16+ hours of thrilling suspense. Only till you find out that Season 2’s production still hasn’t started yet.

If you love crime thrillers with each episode giving you the jitters and ending with a cliffhanger, Signal will be your best friend. 

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Have you watched Signal yet? Let us know your thoughts on the drama below!